King Ralph
By If you watch the Mets, you knew it was baseball season when Ralph came into the booth for a few innings, and of course long-term Mets fans will remember him as a broadcaster, period. His greatness as a player shouldn’t be forgotten, either. His career was short, and not only were his peak years with dreadful teams in a small market, it overlapped with 4 outfielders* who have reasonable cases as being among the 10 best players ever. But he had a lifetime OBP of about .400 and led the National League in home runs for 7 straight years — a devastating offensive player. He’ll be missed by many people, and I’m one.
*I thought this went without saying, but: Mantle, Mays, Williams, Aaron. You could throw Musial in there, but I think he’s pretty clearly 5th best in that heat. Anyway, I think we can see why it was hard for Kiner to sustain his historical reputation…